Sara Kraft / Kraftywork

“One of the shockingly few Bay Area theatre artists performing a rigorous inquiry into how technology forms and informs our lives—and one of the few to weave it intelligently and seamlessly into performance… combining the most profound elements of live performance and the sharpest technological tools to create meditations that linger long after the performance.” — Theatre Bay Area Magazine

“Sara Kraft’s low-key brilliance by now merits a neologism: krafty (with a k!). Krafty = shrewd, inventive, technically savvy, wry, playful, tuneful, eerie, unsettling, and generally speaking, not to be missed.” — SF Bay Guardian

Bay Area artist Sara Kraft returns to YBCA with the world premiere of HyperReal a mesmerizing fusion of text, song, sound, movement and live interactive video to examine the complex feedback loop between technology, the body and the mind. How do we determine what is “real” in a world where our experiences and perceptions are increasingly mediated—a world where even our “actual” physical experience can be doubted? HyperReal features a stunning visual landscape that blurs the line between live and projected realities, furthering the crafted integration of interactive media and visual design with live performance that Kraft is acclaimed for. Live audio and video sampling of the performance as it occurs gradually accumulate into dense collages of the recorded “past” seamlessly merging with the live “present”, calling into question the very nature of live performance itself and highlighting the paradoxical sense of intimacy and alienation technology can produce. With a knack for illuminating large themes through very personal and intimate lenses, Kraft transports audiences with hilarious, heartbreaking, disturbing, provocative and transcendent meditations on the human condition that linger long after leaving the theater.

Conceived, written & directed by Sara Kraft. Performed by Sara Kraft, Sonsheree Giles and Jesse Hewit, with video design by Ian Winters & Sara Kraft, lighting by Allen Willner, scenic design by Matthew Antaky & Kraft, sound by Jeremiah Moore & Kraft, costumes by Sonsheree Giles. Directorial consultation by Ernie Lafky.

Running time: 120 mins

Post-Performance Champagne Toast with Sara Kraft

Thu, Mar 18
Join Sara Kraft and YBCA Performing Arts curator Angela Mattox for a champagne toast after the Thursday, March 18 performance. Free with RSVP or performance ticket.
RSVP now »

Artist InSight
Post-Show Conversation with with Sara Kraft
Following the Fri, Mar 19 performance
FREE with HyperReal Performance Ticket

HyperReal is commissioned by Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, CounterPULSE, and the Z Space /Magic Theatre New Works Initiative. Also supported in part by the Zellerbach Family Foundation and Theatre Bay Area CASH grants. HyperReal is a fiscally sponsored project of The Intersection for the Arts Incubator program.